Nokia Corporation, once a major Mobile manufacturer company is now busy with telecom & networking equipments, solutions & services to enterprises. The company has now published their annual report on threats with viruses & malware. The report says that the major threat in mobile networks is due to smartphones. The company report also claims that smartphones account for total of 60% to mobile networks issues.
Some important points from the reports,
- Nokia Threat Intelligence Lab report shows iOS-based malware appears on top 20 list for first time with XcodeGhost and FlexiSpy.
- Android malware more than doubled in last six months of 2015 and is becoming increasingly sophisticated and persistent.
- Report examines rising threats through mobile ransomware.
Kevin McNamee, head of the Nokia Threat Intelligence La b said,”Security is a very real concern for any device with an IP address, be it Android, iPhone or even a Windows PC connected to the mobile network. While Android infections continue to rise and become more sophisticated, the Nokia Threat Intelligence Report from late 2015 was the first time we saw iOS malware make our top 20 list, with XcodeGhost being the fourth most prevalent malware detected. We also saw a rise in a variety of ransomware apps that try to extort money by claiming to have encrypted the phone’s data. Nokia’s security approach reaches into the network to stop malware before getting to the device itself and before damage can occur.”
The company tested smartphones based on Android OS, Apple’s iOS, Microsoft’s Windows OS. Out of all these three, Android & iOS were most affected. The reports also says that they have found increase in the iOS based malware.
The full report found some basic important points,
- Due to a decrease in adware activity, the overall infection rate in mobile networks declined from 0.75% to 0.49% on Windows-based PCs connected to the Internet via a mobile network in the second half of 2015. Adware is a software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material (often unwanted) when a user is online.
- In the same time period, smartphone infection rates increased and now account for 60% of infections detected in the mobile networks.
- Android continues to be the main mobile platform targeted.
- For the first time since the report began, iOS-based malware – including XcodeGhost and FlexiSpy – is on the top 20 list. In October 2015 alone, iPhone malware represented 6% of total infections.
- The XcodeGhost malware was injected into apps through a compromised software development kit that was used by Chinese developers to create legitimate apps distributed via the Apple App Store. Apple has removed these apps from the Apple Store, but some malware remains active.
- Ransomware – malware that effectively holds a device hostage by encrypting data and then locking it – like CryptoLocker has been around for a while on Windows PCs, but 2015 saw several varieties attacking Android, as well. Recovery can only be achieved by paying the attacker a ransom fee via a prepaid cash voucher or with bitcoins.
- Mobile malware is becoming more sophisticated in the techniques it uses to persist on the device. It is becoming very difficult to uninstall and can even survive a factory reset.
This report as created by Motive Security labs of Alcatel-Lucent during 2012-2015 but later the company was acquired by Nokia Corporations. So the job shifted to Nokia. The Nokia Threat Intelligence Lab focuses on the behavior of malware network & they develop anti malware according to that. This report is also a major part of that program.
